


Sweet Dreams

by reverseblackholeofwords, RubberSoles19



Series: Devil May Care [5]
Category: FNAF, Game Theory - Fandom, MatPat - Fandom, Supernatural, Youtubers
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23912218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reverseblackholeofwords/pseuds/reverseblackholeofwords, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubberSoles19/pseuds/RubberSoles19
Summary: A few days after the events of Blacktop Blues, Matthew is still dealing with the aftermath of spending a week at the hands of William Afton, and while Stephanie wishes she could help him, the night brings anything but sweet dreams.
Relationships: Matthew Patrick/Stephanie Patrick
Series: Devil May Care [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646251
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Watching the Nerd Parents fight for the last episode has been traumatizing for all of us, including me and Becca, so the inbetween-episode one shots have a definite theme and that theme is: Let Stephew Be Adorable Together.

“Matthew.”

He jumped. Matt wasn’t sure when Stephanie had appeared in the kitchen, but he hadn’t noticed her until she spoke up. Then again, he was so tired he’d probably miss a train barreling through their miniscule apartment. She tipped the screen of his laptop down a little as he continued to stare emptily at it.

“Matthew?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he turned to her, blinking slowly, “I’m here.”

She glanced towards the dim digital clock on the oven and frowned. “Do you know what time it is?” Stephanie was dressed for work, her hair still a bit damp from a shower. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

Matt worked his jaw a little with the taste of morning breath on his tongue, not remembering when he’d bothered to brush his teeth last. Ever since they’d moved into the apartment, got everything put in place, and Nate headed off on another hunt - he never could stay put for long - Matt felt lost.

Everything felt sideways, off-kilter, out of balance.

His clothes always seemed scratchier or like they didn’t quite fit him anymore. He never stopped adjusting and pulling at them. Even when he was alone in the apartment, he could feel someone’s eyes on him all the time. And sometimes he swore he could hear Afton just in the other room, singing to himself as he worked.

“Matt,” Steph said his name so gently, full of concern. He’d zoned out again, his eyes crinkled at the edges like he was trying to solve some invisible equation on the wall behind her. “I - I know it’s a lot to ask to just go back to business as usual after everything, but we at least have to try. Or maybe… find a new normal, right?” Feeling a bit helpless, she looked around at the notes that covered their countertop. None of it made any sense to her, stuff about black magic and shtrigas and sigils. “Maybe I should call Nate?”

“No,” Matt muttered, snapping out of his thoughts quickly at the mention of his brother’s name. “I don’t want to bother him with this. He’s…” Even after Matt offered a place to stay, Nate had cleared out later the next day, and Matt was forced to admit to himself that six years couldn’t be fixed by a plastic cup and the offer of a free futon.

Stephanie checked the time again. She didn’t want to leave Matt there alone like he was, but she didn’t have much of a choice either. One of them had to hold a job in order to keep a roof over their heads. “I have to go.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Get some rest, please. I’ll call you when I’m on break.”

Matt watched her grab her keys from her purse and head out. He stared at the door long after she’d gone, until finally he looked back to his laptop and tilted the screen up again, getting back to work.

* * *

The room was dark, mostly quiet, a stale scent still hung in the air from the last tenants that lived there. Slumped on the futon, Matt poked unhappily at the quickly congealing meal of red beans and rice that he’d already reheated five times now… or was it six? Either way, he just couldn’t convince himself to eat another bite, hadn’t been able to get down much all day long.

It was a little after two in the morning, and the cheap box TV in one corner of their living area crackled somewhere in the background as Matt doodled in a legal pad, page after page of symbols that haunted the corners of his visions whether sleeping or awake. Though the line between the two was getting all the more fuzzy the longer he avoided looking at it.

He’d snap his eyes open suddenly, unaware that he’d momentarily fallen asleep, but the anxiety burning in his empty stomach pulled him back to consciousness every time. And the more he thought of sleeping, being vulnerable to his own memories and fears, the colder he felt. He pushed the bowl of food away, gathered the blanket up around his shoulders, and went back to doodling.

“I’ll sleep, I will,” he told himself. “Just… after I figure this out. After I’m sure…”

As Matt’s head began to nod forward again, falling asleep every time his eyes slipped closed momentarily, skeletal hands reached out of the shadows behind him and came forward to cover his eyes, and Matt snapped backwards so violently, his sense of balance all but gone, he threw himself to the ground.

The side of his head cracked against the edge of the coffee table, and he winced, covering the swelling spot on his head. The last thing he needed was more head trauma, but the visceral fear that grabbed at his throat was even more worrisome. His heart pounded violently in his chest as he looked around for any sign of Afton only to slowly remember that he was dead.

Afton was gone.

And Matt was safe.

Or at least he hoped that was true. That was, after all, what he’d been trying to prove to himself for the last few days. Which meant that he was officially hallucinating now. He could mark that fun little symptom off his Sleep Deprivation Bingo card.

God, was this what Nate had to live with, constantly?

Groaning, Matt pushed himself up onto the futon again as the door to the bedroom slowly opened and Steph came out, her brow wrinkled in concern. “Matthew?” When she saw Matt holding his head, she hurried to his side and sat down, almost turning over his bowl of beans and rice.

“I’m fine,” he murmured and turned his face away from her, but she reached up, put her hand against his chin, and moved it so she could see where he’d bumped his head.

“Doesn’t look too bad, but I’ll get you some ice to put on it just in case.” She got up, noticing the bowl of food finally, and when she picked it up, Matt looked away again. “Still haven’t been able to eat?”

Matt just shrugged his shoulders wearily, tired of making excuses. Steph sighed and brought the bowl with her to the kitchen where she set it in the sink, went to the refrigerator, and got out a cold pack she’d normally put in her lunch bag for work. Wrapping it in a clean hand towel, she brought it back to Matthew and sat down beside him again as he pressed it to his head.

“Maybe we could go see that therapist that Jason recommended,” she said softly, and took one of Matt’s hands in both of hers as he shivered slightly. “If you could just talk to someone…”

“I can’t talk about this, Steph,” Matt whispered and dropped his head to rest on her shoulder. “I can’t exactly tell some poor, unsuspecting therapist that I was kidnapped by a soul-eating, child-murdering witch without ending up in a padded cell.” He shut his eyes. He’d woken her up, and she’d had such a long day at work, too. “You should go back to sleep.”

“Not unless you’re coming with me.” She turned a little so that she could wrap her arms around him and brush her fingers through the back of his hair. Everything had been so crazy ever since she’d gotten Matt back that they hadn’t had any time to deal with all the things that happened to him.

During the weeks spent at the Roadhouse, Matt had always had something to do, someone to talk to, and not enough space to himself to think. With all those distractions and Ro’s cupcakes, things had been easier. But now, with nothing to occupy him but thoughts of Afton and his nightmares, it was no wonder he couldn’t sleep.

Stephanie wished she knew a magic cure, some spell to summon something that would chase Matt’s worried thoughts away like they had with the ghost car. “Just come lay down for a little while and relax, okay?”

Matt took a deep breath around the anxiety prickling and jabbing in his chest and eventually nodded his head. He didn’t want to fight with Stephanie anymore, and he believed her when she said that she wouldn’t go back to bed without him. So he let her pull him to his feet and lead him to the bedroom that was only barely big enough for the two of them, their bed, and the dresser they shared.

“Fresh pajamas,” Steph instructed and went to the dresser to grab some. As she tossed them to him, Matt dutifully changed, and then let her lead him into the bathroom where she sat him down on the toilet seat and grabbed a clean rag from under the sink, soaking it in warm water and wringing it out. “Head back.”

He tilted back his head for her as she cleaned his face. The warm cloth felt nice against his eyes, and Matt sighed, releasing a little of the tension in his muscles. She wet the rag again and used it to soak his hair, just enough to work some of the grease out and comb out the tangles with her fingers.

When she was done, Matt let his head drop forward, his cheeks burning red. “I’m sorry, Steph. You shouldn’t have to - I mean, I should be able to take care of myself.”

“Hey, I almost lost you.” Steph draped the rag over the edge of the sink and hugged her arms tight around herself. “And what you went through, alone… I’ll admit that I don’t fully understand it, but you’re not alone now. And I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure you remember that.” As he lifted his head again, Steph combed back his hair from his face, his red-rimmed eyes. “Together?”

Matt nodded his head. “Together.”

They dragged themselves into bed, snuggling close, and Matt pressed a kiss to the top of Steph’s hair. He didn’t want to sleep, but he did want to rest. He wanted to rest more than anything, but maybe just laying there, maybe just being close to her would be enough to put him at ease.

Their bed was certainly more comfortable than spending all night on the futon again. And with the smell of Steph’s shampoo, the bedsheets soft against his skin, it was nice. He was able to breathe a little easier, let his aching muscles relax, and he thought he’d just let his eyes rest for a while. But the moment they were closed, sleep pulled him under like an anchor tied to his chest.

* * *

The hallway stretched away, longer than before. Pictures hung on the walls of their old house, smiling, grimacing, crying big, black tears that smelled of rot. Something brushed past, invisible but close and hanging just out of sight. Cold fingers brushing over arms and the back of the neck.

In the near complete darkness, a door swung open at the end of the hall, a flicker of light emanating from it, but moving closer did nothing. The hallway stretched longer and longer and longer until the door was only a speck in the distance, until the floor began to melt underfoot. Until fire sparked and started to roll down the hall, pouring from the open doorway and licking across the floorboards, up the walls, across the ceiling.

Stephanie screamed, but her legs were sunken into the floor up to her knees. She struggled and fought. Each step was a battle, every movement was slow and aching and impossible like wading through sand. But she tore with ferocious agony away from the flames that had haunted her dreams ever since she’d been trapped in their house and left to die.

She could still smell the smoke, could still feel the heat blistering her skin.

She gasped as the dream stole her voice away, and she tried to call for Matthew over and over. But no words left her mouth. The flames drew closer, and her legs grew heavier. And she reached forward to crawl across the floor, dig her fingers into the wood if she had to and drag herself to safety.

Then a shadow loomed over her, dark and menacing and cold and sucking all the light up from the room again, and Steph looked up to see Matt towering above her. But his eyes were all wrong. His smile was crooked, hooked at the end like a curled knife, and Stephanie shivered at the sight of him, wanting to plead with him to wake up and remember her. Only she still couldn’t speak.

He kneeled down next to her, taking her chin in his hand and tilting it up. His hands were like ice. His eyes cut right through her. “Oh Stephanie, dear, sweet Stephanie,” his voice was wrong, too, as he brushed his thumb across her jaw, “you should’ve known you’d never be rid of me.”

Steph woke with a jolt, sweating and choking beneath the covers. She threw them off of her and sat up against the headboard, trembling. Matt, from where he’d shifted to the other side of the bed in his sleep, raised his head and blinked at her. “Steph?” He sat up. “Stephanie?”

She shook her head realizing that her cheeks were wet with tears. “I’m fine.”

Matt crawled up to sit beside her. “Was it a nightmare?” But she didn’t need to answer. He knew that look, and he could only imagine what she’d dreamed about. Which meant that he wasn’t even sure if he could comfort her because, thanks to William Afton, he’d become the stuff of his wife’s nightmares.

But when he heard Steph sob, covering her face with her hands, Matt pulled her close anyway. “Hey, it’s alright. It’s okay, Steph. I’m here.” He pushed her bangs back from her eyes and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “You’re safe.”

“I know, I know I am, it’s just…” Steph looked up and relaxed a little at the sight of Matt, her Matt, reassuring herself that the nightmare was over. Though, it still broke her heart to see how tired he looked. “You shouldn’t be worried about me. It’s just a bad dream. You…”

“Hey, you don’t have to ignore what you went through because of me,” Matt said quietly and shook his head. “I mean, the fire - you almost died. That’s not nothing.”

Stephanie rested her head against his chest, his heartbeat quick but steady. “But Afton, those things that he did to you-” She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Doesn’t matter, it doesn’t make what you went through any less terrifying,” he reminded her gently and squeezed her tight. “We’ll just… Figure it out together, and maybe we can see that therapist, after all, just give them the abridged version. Whatever it takes for you to feel safe again, I’ll do it.”

He pressed soft kisses all along her forehead, down the side of her face. “Because you’re my best friend, and - well - I kind of have a crush on you, too, I guess.” She felt his smile against her cheek. “But don’t tell anyone, alright? It’ll ruin my bad boy street cred.”

That brought a smile to Steph’s face, too, and she softly smacked his shoulder. “I love you, nerd.”

They settled into silence, comfortable there where they continued to hold each other close, and after a while, Stephanie could feel herself relaxing and falling asleep again. And quietly, she heard Matt whisper, “Sweet dreams, Steph.”


End file.
